Cyclo-cross seems unlikely to make it as an Olympic sport in the foreseeable future, but MTB cross country is in.

On the face of it, the skillsets for the two sports look similar, so has there ever been a concerted effort to cross over from one event to the other? If Van der Poel were to have put his mind to it since the end of the CX season, could he have been a contender?

Armchair cyclist wrote:Cyclo-cross seems unlikely to make it as an Olympic sport in the foreseeable future, but MTB cross country is in.

On the face of it, the skillsets for the two sports look similar, so has there ever been a concerted effort to cross over from one event to the other? If Van der Poel were to have put his mind to it since the end of the CX season, could he have been a contender?

vdP tried, but didn't find the front of a big race. His early results looked good, but he was flying from CX and the dirt guys were just building. I wish that he would have stuck it out a bit longer. Frischknecht had by far the best results in both disciplines (and that was when XC was 2+ hours).

Armchair cyclist wrote:Cyclo-cross seems unlikely to make it as an Olympic sport in the foreseeable future, but MTB cross country is in.

On the face of it, the skillsets for the two sports look similar, so has there ever been a concerted effort to cross over from one event to the other? If Van der Poel were to have put his mind to it since the end of the CX season, could he have been a contender?

Here in Colorado riders (including some top international CX riders) ride both MTB in the summer and CX in the winter.

I'd say the riders have slightly different characteristics. The top MTB guys tend to be quite small (similar physiques types to GC riders). The top CX riders seem to be more rouleur types - think Lars Boom & Stybar.